All poultry carcasses entering the processing environment are contaminated with bacteria, some with pathogenic bacteria such as pathogenic Salmonella species. Fecal matter and dirt are the main sources of this contamination. Campylobacter infection from poultry sickens more than 600,000 people per year in the United States alone. Salmonella-associated illness is the most commonly diagnosed and reported foodborne illness, with 19,336 individuals hospitalized with the infection in 2010 in the United States, and 378 deaths in the U.S. alone.
Poultry is typically washed at any of several steps during the process of converting a live bird to an edible food product. Decontamination is more difficult because many types of bacteria are able to adhere within only 15 seconds of contact and a significant number of carcasses can become cross-contaminated with pathogens during handling, scalding, mechanical processing, and chilling. Water used for washing or other procedures is often used repeatedly over time, which provides yet another opportunity spreading, rather than reducing, microbial burden on poultry.
Microbial contamination or cross contamination of poultry via water continues to be a major concern for poultry processors and end users. Although washing, cooling, or heating poultry carcasses with water can reduce potential contamination, the processing water can also serve as a source of contamination or cross contamination. If pathogenic microorganisms in water are not removed, inactivated or otherwise controlled, they can spread to other poultry, potentially contaminating them. Handling or processing steps that pool many individual poultry parts also tend to increase the risk that a single contaminated item may contaminate the entire lot.
A variety of chemical means exist for reducing microbial contamination in processing and fabrication of meat and poultry. However, there still exists a need for more effective compositions to reduce the bacterial load and minimize the risk of food-borne illness.